Category Archives: Meditation & Mindful Choices

How I Improved Insomnia with Meditation and Yoga Lifestyle

Meditation & Mindful Choices, Yoga & Exercise

This article was originally published in the online magazine Sixty and Me.

When it comes to health and wellness, most people probably think that I’ve got it all together. I am a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, personal trainer, and wellness coach. I do my best to “walk the talk” and practice what I preach. I exercise, meditate, practice yoga, and eat a whole foods diet.

For many years, though, I suffered with an invisible problem. I wasn’t sleeping well. Specifically, I wasn’t staying asleep well. And I’m not alone in this. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one third of US adults get less than the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night.

Chronic sleep debt is linked with type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. It increases our risk for accidents and injuries. It’s a big deal for individuals, and it’s a big deal for communities.

Why Sleep Eludes Women Over 60

Many women over 60 suffer from sleep challenges, including aches and pains, nocturia (the need to urinate during the night), and hormonal changes. Additionally, they may take new medications due to age-related changes.

Research shows that the stereotypical “senior problem” of nodding off at 7 pm and waking up at 3 am isn’t just because you are bored in the evening. As we age, our internal clock really does change. It’s called “advanced sleep phase syndrome.”

Sleep aids are often prescribed when women voice concerns to their doctors. According to CDC, over nine million Americans take some form of prescription sleep aid. Sometimes sleep aids are necessary to get through a crisis time, but sleep aids are not designed to be used long-term.

Each has its own side effects. A big concern for older women is that sleep aids are associated with an increased risk of falls and fractures.

It’s essential to rule out sleep disorders and health conditions with your medical team. Concurrently, you may benefit from improving your sleep hygiene and sleep mindset. I’ll share what I did, and how meditation and a yoga lifestyle helped me improve my sleep.

Two Main Obstacles to Good Sleep and What to Do About Them

Sleeping well requires adjustments to our physiology and psychology. Sleep happens in our body, and our brain-mind must cooperate with the process.

I used the lens of yoga philosophy and practices to view my sleep challenges. Applying yoga philosophy to sleep helped me condense all the “reasons” that I didn’t sleep into two categories.

  • Not living in harmony with nature;
  • Not surrendering my ego to the Infinite.

Identifying the problems made the solutions clear.

Get in Harmony with Nature

For me, to live in harmony with nature means get up with the sunrise (or close to it), wind down with the sunset, and observe good sleep hygiene. I’ll go into more detail on that in a moment.

Surrender My Ego

On the yoga path to enlightenment, we ultimately do surrender our egos to a higher power, God, Ultimate Reality, Cosmic Consciousness, or whatever you want to call it. In Sanskrit, this act of surrendering is called Isvarapranidhana, and it’s one of the 10 core lifestyle principles of yoga.

On a more mundane level, it can mean letting go of the need to be in control, to be perfect, or to get one more thing done tonight. For me, it means recognizing that worrying about things instead of sleeping doesn’t help one bit, so I can just let it go and literally “sleep on it.”

Clean Up Your Sleep Hygiene to Get in Sync with Nature’s Rhythms

You likely know about sleep hygiene, but are you doing it? Connecting yoga principles and practices to sleep hygiene helped me do what I knew was good for me. Here are the steps I took that made the biggest impact and how I connected them to my bigger purpose.

Pratyahara

Pratyahara means we calm our senses inward instead of outward to stimulation. This step involves:

  • Making my bedroom dark, quiet, and cool (60-67 F);
  • No clocks with lights;
  • Nothing plugged in;
  • Cell phones and Wi-fi off.

Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya means continence. It is the conservation of vital forces. Yogis do not dissipate their energy with non-useful activities that distract us from what is good for us. Here I:

  • End screen time early (cut-off is 7:30 pm).
  • Use my computer and screen time in the daytime and “unplug” in the evening with non-tech activities.

Saucha

Saucha means cleanliness, which applies to our dietary habits. Eating processed foods and using caffeine and alcohol interrupts sleep.

Gut health and good digestion are key. 80 percent of our serotonin is made in the gut, and serotonin is necessary for the production of melatonin, which helps us fall and stay asleep.

This final step includes:

  • Minimizing/eliminating alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, and sugar.
  • Aiming to eat just the right amount at dinner so that I don’t need a snack or wake up hungry. I try to have dinner by 7:30 pm.

How Yoga and Meditation Help Us Sleep

When we breathe smoothly, and practice yoga meditatively, we send physiological signals to our brain and body that everything is OK. This helps us lower cortisol, feel calmer, fall asleep, and stay asleep.

Besides the lifestyle guidelines discussed above, yoga practice also includes postures, breathing, and meditation.

Ideal yoga postures for relaxation include:

You can learn these from a certified yoga instructor and practice them before bed, or any time, to relax.

There are many yogic breathing and meditation techniques. Meditation has been shown to aid in sleep and reduce the need for sleeping pills. Scientists believe this is due to the decreased stimulation and decreased cortisol.

Over time, meditation practices strengthen the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. This “command center” helps us do what we know is good for us and follow through on good sleep hygiene.

It also helps us adjust our sleep mindset and let go (surrender) what is not in our control. We can put worries to bed, and then put ourselves to bed!

Measure It to Improve It

I’m not done learning about sleep. Most of the time, my sleep patterns are far better than they used to be. I work at it every day and strive to make sleep a top priority. When I’m rested, I do better in all areas of life.

To help me and my clients stay on track with good sleep hygiene, I created a webinar and  Daily Sleep Habits Tracker.  The webinar goes into way more detail, including how to use Ayurveda to balance your mind-body constitution for better sleep. Click here to download both. 

 

Now it’s your turn. What do you do to make sure you sleep well? Please leave a comment.

 

Put Three Things in Morning Routine to Age Well

Meditation & Mindful Choices

This article was first published in the online magazine Sixty and Me.

Welcome new year and new decade! You may be thinking about your health and wellness goals. You may have a lot of them, and you realize that if you spread yourself too thin, you will not be successful. Or you may be wondering which specific activities will help you achieve the results you want.

To help myself, my clients, and you stay on track, I’ve come up with a KISS (Keep it Simple Sweetie) morning routine that will help you focus on the essentials and start each day with energy and vitality.

My morning routine consists of three simple steps: hydrate, meditate, lubricate. It’s simple and easy to remember. You can customize it for your personal preferences and needs.

Most importantly – it works! These three simple steps will keep you feeling good as you navigate each day of your 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.

Check out the video below, or keep reading to break down each step and then you can personalize them to apply in your own life.

Hydrate

Start each day with water. If I’m allowed to give only one piece of health advice for the rest of my life, it would be, “Drink water!” Water is the only beverage we truly need.

Water is the absolute first thing your body needs when you wake up. Overnight we lose fluids through breathing and sweat. You may crave tea, coffee, or other caffeinated beverage, but water should come first.

I start each day with warm water with lemon and ginger. Drink water to your preference – cold, room temperature, warm, or hot; plain or with lemon.

If you want to know more about water – how much you should drink, how to filter it, and whether you need expensive water merchandise – here’s my free Water Action Guide which provides all those answers and more.

Meditate

Immediately after I hydrate and take care of morning hygiene, I meditate. The benefits of meditation are now widely known and reported in scientific journals. Meditation lowers stress hormones, improves cognition, and strengthens our sense of well-being.

You can reap the rewards of meditation without aligning yourself with any particular system, faith, or dogma. Just sit quietly, relax, and breathe.

You may choose a different practice that helps you feel centered and peaceful. Consider prayer, journaling, visualization, and reading inspirational literature.

The important thing for me is to spend time each day in the quiet, before the day’s activities. It helps me be calmer, clearer, kinder, and more grateful. Meditation helps me be a better version of myself.

My personal meditation routine was inspired by the teachings of Kriya Yoga.

Lubricate

Lubricate has to do with your joints. As we age, we may feel stiff when we wake up in the morning. We notice that we feel better as the day goes on, after our bodies are in motion.

Motion is lotion, and there are many wonderful ways to move your body. Don’t wait! Hydrate, meditate, then lubricate. Do yoga or Pilates, go to an exercise class, make up your own routine, take a walk, or swim. It’s all good, and the most important thing about movement is to do it!

Strategies for Success

Here are a few strategies to enhance your KISS morning routine of Hydrate, Meditate, Lubricate.

Add Other Positive Habits

Build in more healthy habits around this three-part morning routine. For example, start your day with gratitude. Say, “Thank you! I’m glad to be alive. Today I’m grateful for…” Then get started.

Leave Social Media for Later

Hydrate, Meditate, and Lubricate BEFORE you turn on computer, tablet, or phone. Checking texts and emails eats up valuable morning self-care time. Those things can wait.

Create a Mirror Routine Before Bed

Consider making “hydrate, meditate, lubricate” a set of bookends for the day. End your evening with hot tea (only a little so that you don’t have to visit the bathroom at night). Pray or meditate. Then do a gentle stretch or a hot bath to ease your joints after the day’s activities.

​How do you start your morning? Do you have a KISS morning routine? How do you keep it simple and stick to it? Please share with our community in the box below!

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Holiday Fitness Tips for Boomers

Meditation & Mindful Choices
Get your follow-along challenge guide here!

This article was originally published in the magazine Sixty and Me.

Ladies, I know what you are thinking: “It’s the holiday season. My needs go on the back burner until January.”

I’ve observed this trend with many of my clients (and myself) over the years. Most people I talk to feel too busy as we go towards the “finish line” of the year. As women, we often sacrifice our exercise, sleep, or “down time” to fit in all the things we feel we must do.

When we feel tired, we may be drawn to sugar, caffeine, and indulgence foods to keep our energy up – and they’re easy to reach around the holidays!

As a woman over 50, you may be juggling multiple generations of family members, hostessing, and travelling. You may feel you need to have your home beautifully decorated, gifts purchased and wrapped, and the perfect holiday meals prepared.

You are likely balancing all of these holiday demands with your normal demands of work, volunteering, family, or community responsibilities.

The truth is that our closest loved ones will continue to love us even if we have not done those things. Our challenge is to love ourselves even if we skip the usual commotion!

In the spirit of keeping yourself happy, healthy, and SANE during the holidays, please enjoy these 12 tips. I encourage you to try them as a 12-day challenge between now and the New Year.

 You can print out this follow-along challenge guide, and watch these 12 short complementary videos (one for each day).

Get your follow-along challenge guide here!
 

Take A Walk

Now is the time to keep your exercise plan simple, flexible, and portable. Take a walk at any pace. If being with others at this time feels fun, include friends and family members on your walk. If you need to be alone to recoup some energy, use your walk to get your alone time.

Monitor Your Speech

Around the holidays, I hear lots of women say things like, “I always eat too much during the holidays,” or “Travelling is tough. I know I’ll gain weight.”

What you say is powerful! It enforces these limiting beliefs inside our own heads and hearts, and it impacts the people around us.

When you catch yourself talking like this, pause. Refresh, rethink, and rephrase. Ask a loved one to be a “speech monitor” with you, and help each other speak only the words you want to be true.

Put Your Feet Up!

Legs up the wall is my favorite yoga pose. Even if I only have a few minutes, it makes a huge difference in my energy level. If you cannot do that one, lie on the couch, floor, or bed with your legs and feet elevated.

Take a break from “running around.” This is especially helpful if you have had a busy day, and you also have a busy evening ahead of you.

Use the Rule of the Four “Reallys”

During the holidays, we are often surrounded by foods we don’t normally eat. There’s more sugar, more fat, more salt, more oil, more of everything! You may not even care about some of these foods, but somehow when they are in front of us at a party or buffet, we eat them even if we don’t love them.

In her book, Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat, Dr. Michelle May describes the rule of four reallys. I love using this rule for holiday parties – and when I am given sweets as a gift. If I “really, really, really, really” love it, I eat it and enjoy it! If I don’t, I pass and choose something with more nutrition value.

Turn Your Phone Off

These days, people seem to carry their phones everywhere and look at them often. This behavior is not limited to the younger generations either.

During holiday gatherings, be an example of a wise woman who is fully present to the day and the people around you. Get where you are going, be where you are, and leave your phone off in your purse or another room.

Play Like a Kid and Have Fun

You may have children around you during the holidays. If you do, that’s an easy way to join in their fun and games. Children laugh easily and often, and you can join in! If you don’t have children as part of your holiday plans, find ways to be more playful. For instance, try some laughter yoga!

Get Your Heart Rate Up and Sweat

Walk, hike, bike, laugh, or move in any way your body allows. Again, keep it simple!

Prioritize Sleep

Your evenings may be disrupted by parties, guests, travel, or holiday activities. Nap when you need to. Most of the time, I limit daytime naps to 30 minutes. During the holidays, I have a “take it when I can get it” approach, and sleep whenever I feel I need it and am able to do so.

Anchor Your Healthy Habits to Your “Normal Days”

Even though most of the holiday season we have normal days and not-so-ordinary days. Firm up your resolve when your schedule is mostly typical. Make sure that whenever you can, you “stock up” with good food, sleep, and exercise.

Then when you cannot, the impact will not be as negative on your overall health. What we do most of the time is more important than what we do every once in a while.

Be a Nutritarian

Dr. Joel Fuhrman coined the term “nutritarian.” I’ve adapted from his original meaning. Aim for three one-half cup servings of vegetables each day. That is only 1.5 cups total. Get a head start by having vegetables for breakfast. If the rest of the day goes downhill, you’ve already gotten some good nutrition.

Go Outside

Go outside even if you have to bundle up. If you can exercise, do it outside. If you cannot exercise, you will still benefit from the sunshine and fresh air and new sights.

Breathe

Take three long, deep, wide, smooth breaths. Exhale completely. Do this when you wake up, before bed, before eating, before you drive your car, and before you say something you might regret. It’s always a good idea to take three breaths. It’s especially important during the holidays!

What will you do this holiday season to stay healthy, happy, and sane? Will you do it alone or with a friend? How often will you have normal days in-between the not-so-ordinary ones? How do you plan to spend them? Please share with our community!

Treat Vertigo Naturally

Meditation & Mindful Choices

Several of my clients and students have had vertigo. It held them back, temporarily, from doing some things they loved, and from moving as much as they’d like.

Sometimes vertigo is caused by poor posture. For example, if someone’s upper back is too hunched, they have to look up to see in front of them. This can pinch the nerves or blood flow from reaching the head. 
 
If that’s going on for you, check out this blog post to see two exercises for a stiff upper back.

Sometimes, though, vertigo is caused by deeper problems with the inner ear, or other internal imbalances.
 
I recently interviewed Eric Aufdencamp about how a Traditional Chinese Medicine approach can treat and cure vertigo. Check out the video below. You may be surprised about how Traditional Chinese Medicine can be a great complement to yoga, exercise, stretching, and a healthy lifestyle.

Key Takeaways

  1. Not every acupuncturist is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. A Doctor of Oriental Medicine also incorporates herbal treatments.
  2. Vertigo can be treated successfully with herbs, acupuncture, bodywork, or a combination of these modalities.
  3. Herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine include seeds, roots, bark, flowers, minerals, and other substances from the Earth.

    Check out the rest of this interview below in which we covered  degenerative disc disease, pain, menopause, and everything you need to know about acupuncture needles.

Find Eric Aufdencamp at www.ericaufdencamp.com.

 

Find a Traditional Chinese  Medicine practitioner near you and make sure they are certified by National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Key Takeaways

Menopause is not a disease! Learn how Traditional Chinese Medicine can help ease the symptoms for women during pre-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause phases of life. Herbs and acupuncture can assist with hot flashes, sleep, depression, anxiety, low libido, and other symptoms that impact quality of life.

All about the needles...Acupuncture needles are solid, stainless steel, and have rounded tips. They are designed to go into muscle but not nerves or veins. Western needles are slanted and hollow, designed to take or insert fluids into the body.

Traditional Chinese Medicine can help with degenerative disc disease (which is not a disease!), back pain, joint pain and musculoskeletal pain.

 

2 important vitamins for healthy aging (and you’ve never heard of them)

Meditation & Mindful Choices, ,

This article was originally published in the online magazine Sixty and Me.

You know about Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin C, and Vitamin D. I’m sure you do your best to eat a balanced diet of all nutrients. But have you taken your daily dose of Vitamin J and Vitamin P?

“What?” you may say. “Vitamin J and Vitamin P aren’t in my multivitamin, and my doctor never told me about them!”

The reason that you haven’t heard of them is because I made them up. Vitamin J stands for Joy, and Vitamin P stands for Peace.

I’ve noticed that these two key “vitamins” tip the balance for healthy aging in mind and body. 

Sixty and Me Founder Margaret Manning did a great overview of my article for her YouTube channel, so I’m including it here in case you’d rather listen than read.

Or scroll below the video for more details about how to get your daily DOSE of Vitamins J and P.

The Daily DOSE

I first learned about “The Daily DOSE” from Chris and Dudley Tower of Dynamic Living Institute. They taught me that to age well we must continually replenish our supply of four key hormones and neurotransmitters.

These are:

D = Dopamine

O = Oxytocin

S = Serotonin

E = Endorphins

Dopamine and serotonin naturally decline with age. First, we’ll go over what these brain chemicals and hormones do for you, and how we can boost our production. Then I’ll show you how to make it really simple to get Vitamin J and Vitamin P every day.

Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is triggered by pleasure and reward. When our dopamine levels are optimal, we feel mentally alert and motivated.

The best way to produce and release dopamine is to create a sense of meaningful purpose. At earlier stages of life, our daily activities provided plenty of opportunities to set and achieve goals – at work, raising a family, and making a home.

Our goals and purpose were often external. They were handed to us by the need to make a living and do what was necessary.

In later stages of life, we must identify our inner purpose. For many of us, it’s the first time we’ve had the freedom to do so, and it can feel overwhelming.

To develop your sense of purpose, build on success. Find what you’re good at and do more of it! If you know that you’re good with kids, arrange your schedule to spend time helping them. If you know you’re great at taking care of animals, volunteer with a shelter or serve as a foster home.

Celebrate what you do well. Celebrate your small wins. Set a small goal that you know you can achieve and do it. Then set a slightly bigger one – and do that.

Here’s a list of 10 more natural ways to increase dopamine.

Oxytocin

It doesn’t need to be sexual or sensual touch. You can take a little extra time putting lotion on your body or massage your own feet!

As you age, you may notice fewer opportunities for touch. You may live alone or far away from family. The good news is that oxytocin is also released when we look into someone’s eyes, and when we feel compassion and empathy for others. We can feel compassion anytime, even in our minds, by simply thinking of loved ones.

Serotonin

Serotonin is powerful and complex. It regulates mood, appetite, metabolism, and bone formation. If you have gone through a crisis or depression, you may have been prescribed a medicine to regulate how your body uses serotonin.

One of the best ways to help your body regulate serotonin is to “go with your gut.” I mean this literally and figuratively.

Endorphins

Endorphins are released when we exercise or feel physically invigorated. The phrase “runner’s high” refers to the feel-good sensations of endorphins. They provide natural pain relief.

I have a colleague who went through an excruciating injury that still causes him a lot of pain. His daily exercise allows him to manage the pain without drugs.

Get Your DOSE of Vitamin J and Vitamin P

Now that you know the basics of DOSE, let’s make it really simple.

First, good food, sleep, and exercise go a long way to healthy balances of these neurotransmitters and hormones. If you like choosing whole foods and healthy lifestyle habits, it makes it easier to get your DOSE and age well.

Second, there are some things that are proven to help you balance your daily DOSE. These are:

  • Meditation
  • Music
  • Laughter
  • Snuggling
  • Giving to others through service, gifts, or time
  • Feeling love and empathy
  • Celebrating small wins
  • Aromatherapy (or just enjoying good smells!)
  • Flowers
  • Being in nature

Here are 10 More Ways to Boost Good Feelings from Psychology Today.

Finally, and most importantly, do what brings you joy and peace! It doesn’t matter what other people do. I love to hike in the woods, but not everyone loves being in the woods with bugs and dirt.

I don’t like gardening, but other people love it. I feel peaceful being by myself at home for long stretches of time, but I have friends that need to socialize often to feel good.

You get your daily DOSE of Vitamin J and Vitamin P when you do what makes you feel joyful and peaceful.

It’s important to cultivate activities that are physical and non-physical. I love walking outside. It gives me joy. Recently I had a foot injury, and on some days I could not walk at all. I missed it, and I missed my dose of Vitamin J.

Even if we do everything possible to stay physically healthy as we age, we will have some inevitable obstacles to physical activity. So, cultivate non-physical activities as well, such as reading, movies, meditation, singing, or listening to music.

Take Action

  1. Make a list of 10 things that bring you joy and peace. Include both physical and non-physical activities.
  2. Post the list somewhere visible.
  3. Do 1 thing every day!

What brings you joy and peace? How do you get your daily DOSE of Vitamin J and Vitamin P? What favorite activities could you do more of? Please share in the comments below.

Joan Craig
+1 (864) 561 5925
joan@choosejoyfulhealth.com

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